Danielle Minnis can demonstrate what putting students first looks like after 20 years in the classroom, bolstered by rigorous self-evaluation.
If children fall asleep during a lesson, change the pacing. If a kid with dyslexia feels humiliated reading aloud to peers, do not force them to do it. If 60% of the class passes the test, fantastic. But focus on what could have helped the 40% who struggled.
“You start with where your students are, and you set goals. You do your lesson; you analyze your data; and then you adjust and you reflect,” said Minnis, who teaches eighth-grade reading to students with disabilities at Legacy Middle School in San Antonio. “A lot of times, teachers teach to the middle rather than looking at the outliers, because the outliers can be scary.”
Minnis credits her approach to National Board Certification, often recognized as the most respected and demanding teaching certificate in the country. Roughly 1,200 out of 382,000 Texas teachers — less than 1% — hold the credential. The state rewards those who earn it with salary raises of up to $9,000 under a pay-for-performance program known as the Teacher Incentive Allotment.
But that could change by the end of the year as state leaders question the credential’s worth.
Texas’ new, nearly $8.5 billion school funding law requires the State Board for Educator Certification to evaluate whether National Board Certification aligns with state law. The state board will determine if the national certificates will continue to qualify educators for raises under the Teacher Incentive Allotment.
During legislative debates last year, a prominent Republican state senator said the national certificate did not align with Texas’ goal of rewarding teachers based on merit. Other elected officials have since argued that the National Board’s emphasis on equity conflicts with state mandates prohibiting such practices.
“There’s this thing about, ‘Well, Texas knows what’s best for Texas,’” said Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, a supporter of the national certificate. “That seems to be part of the problem that we’ve got, without recognizing that we don’t need to reinvent the wheel.”
About 620 nationally certified educators receive Teacher Incentive Allotment raises, according to the Texas Education Agency. Teachers say revoking the certification as a pathway to salary increases would show that Texas leaders do not value the highest quality of teaching — that is, those who center their practice on the most important person in education: the child.
“It literally makes you a better teacher,” said Minnis, who attained the credential in 2010. “One of the most important things in national certification is: How does a teacher create a safe, equitable learning environment for all students?”
Teachers sum up the National Board Certification process in two words: writing and reflection.
The program measures whether educators understand the content they teach, their effectiveness in evaluating what students need and their ability to keep children engaged and help them learn.
Teachers have five years to complete the certification. They demonstrate their effectiveness through a computer-based assessment of multiple-choice and free-response questions. They collect samples of students’ work and specify how they will help each grow. They videotape themselves during class instruction, analyzing each decision and interaction. They detail how they serve as leaders and collaborate with colleagues. They scrutinize test results, identifying patterns and adjusting instruction.
“It was harder than my master’s,” said Keke Powell, a second-grade teacher in the Hays school district. She earned her national certification last year. “You have to be able to really be elaborate and specific on what you’re trying to say. Whoever is reading your story, if they cannot paint a picture of what you’re trying to do and say, then it needs to be fixed.”
During the 2025 lawmaking session, legislators boosted educator salaries based on years of experience and district size. They funded training programs and enacted a ban on uncertified teachers. And they expanded the Teacher Incentive Allotment — which serves roughly 42,000 teachers across more than 800 school districts — so more educators could qualify.
Before agreeing on a review of National Board Certification, the Texas Senate proposed phasing it out of the state’s pay-raise program. Former state Sen. Brandon Creighton, a Conroe Republican who crafted the bill, acknowledged that teachers invested time and money in the certification.
But the certification did not align with the spirit of the Teacher Incentive Allotment, Creighton said during a February 2025 Senate floor debate. Removing it would ensure that Texas compensates teachers based only on their daily performance in the classroom, he noted.
“It’s a low percentage of teachers that are applying for that or working within that framework now,” Creighton said at the time, referring to the national credential. “We stuck with a framework that is generally merit-based across the board.”
Months later, during a Texas State Board of Education discussion, some Republicans offered more concrete reasoning for their objections to the National Board: references to diversity, equity and inclusion.
“About 10% of the training that a teacher would go to is based on DEI, gender identity and sexual orientation — and how to help transition children — which violates our state law and violates parental rights,” board member Julie Pickren said during the April meeting.
Pickren pointed to a National Board document that details standards the most accomplished teachers hold themselves accountable to. The nearly 100-page file explains how such teachers cultivate learning spaces inclusive of all children and offers examples of what that could look like in practice.
Pickren read aloud an excerpt: Teachers design and implement lessons that help students develop awareness of, sensitivity to, and respect for others. For example, accomplished teachers are aware that children may begin to question their sexual identity at a young age. Teachers know that acceptance of their curiosity will make them feel safe and secure. In such instances, teachers may feature children’s literature in which diverse gender roles are portrayed.
The Houston-area Republican said focusing on equity and inclusion would confuse Texas teachers and conflict with federal and state requirements that schools avoid educating students about gender identity and sexual orientation.
But “none of that is true,” said Peggy Brookins, president and CEO of the National Board.
Brookins clarified that the National Board does not train educators — on sex, gender or any topic — nor does it assign learning materials.
The certification is based on evidence teachers submit showing how they adapt to their students’ needs, she emphasized. The board evaluates how that aligns with what accomplished instructors and education experts deem best practice.
Contrary to Pickren’s concern about violating parental rights, for instance, the national standards highlight that accomplished teachers communicate frequently with parents about their children’s education.
Nevertheless, Brookins asserted that not every example written for teachers — such as the one Pickren referenced — applies or makes sense in the differing educational and political environments of each state.
“We do not engage in politics. We engage in policy,” Brookins said. “And the policy is to help teachers go through the process of board certification, to work with states to say, ‘How do we make this happen in support of teachers becoming accomplished teachers?’”
Alayna Siemonsma, a 28-year educator who coordinates services for students with dyslexia in the Montgomery school district, considers National Board Certification “the best professional development I’ve ever had the opportunity to be a part of.”
“I would hope that people in those positions — like our lawmakers, like our State Board of Education members — would reach out to people who are nationally board certified,” Siemonsma said, “and have conversations with them directly about what this process entails and how it has made an impact on our craft, on our teaching, on our colleagues, and, of course, on the growth of the students that we serve.”
A Texas Tech University report released this month found that Texas students taught by nationally certified teachers experienced about 3.5 months of additional learning in math and 1.5 months in reading. Low-income students, children learning English and kids scoring below grade level saw the most significant boost in test scores. The report found that students experienced an 18% reduction in the likelihood of suspension and a 10% decrease in chronic absences.
The researchers recommended that Texas continue to recognize the national certificate in the Teacher Incentive Allotment.
The National Board has long prepared teachers to support students who historically need more support, lead researcher Jacob Kirksey said in an interview.
“Understanding that they have historically understood ways to prepare teachers to support these populations is something, again, worth considering from the state level,” Kirksey said.
Lawmakers required the State Board for Educator Certification to decide by Dec. 31 whether to continue including the national certification in the allotment. The Texas Education Agency, which works closely with the board, contracted with six educators to complete the review.
Agency officials did not provide information on the reviewers when asked by The Texas Tribune.
According to a recent presentation to the state certification board, the evaluators have collective expertise on National Board Certification, can interpret Texas law and know state standards for learning materials.
If the board revokes it from the state program, teachers could still earn pay raises for their students’ academic growth — but only as measured by their districts’ standards. The board could also conduct a subsequent review of the national certification and reinstate it at any time.
Still, nationally certified teachers question why state lawmakers decided on the current path.
Dropping National Board Certification from the incentive program would mark a sharp reversal from just four years ago, when lawmakers pushed for its continued inclusion and recommended that educators with the credential receive more money than currently allocated.
Teachers see the upcoming decision as a simple math equation: If National Board Certification equals positive student outcomes, they deserve pay raises.
“I always just take it back to, everybody should be more educated about what good teaching looks like and how all teachers can make a difference,” said Minnis, the eighth-grade reading teacher. “I would ask everybody who has a stake in this. What do you think accomplished teaching looks like? What are we looking for? What are your standards? Why do you think somebody should get TIA?’”
“What’s going to be funny,” Minnis added, “is it’s always going to go back to, ‘Oh, like the national standards.’”
Disclosure: Texas Tech University has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
Source link
